Kinniburgh brings us stability, says Corby chairman Noble

Stevie Noble has backed caretaker-manager Steve Kinniburgh to continue to bring some stability to Corby Town.

The Steelmen are on the hunt for a new permanent boss after David Bell was sacked nearly two weeks ago after a poor start to the campaign.

Director of football Kinniburgh, like he did after the departure of Gary Mills late last season, has stepped into the role on a temporary basis and it has paid dividends with Corby picking up three wins in a row, including a first success in an FA competition for four years as they beat Romulus 2-0 in the preliminary round of the FA Trophy yesterday (Sunday).

Kinniburgh arrived at Steel Park in January to head up the club’s academy, a role chairman Noble and other board members continue to see as a long-term position for the former Kettering Town man.

And while it seems that, in the long term at least, Kinniburgh won’t be asked to take on the first-team job on a permanent basis with the club keen for him to focus on the future, Noble insists the current caretaker-boss will have a key role in deciding who does get the job.

In the meantime, Noble wants Kinniburgh to carry on the good work on both fronts, which is allowing the board plenty of time to find a permanent successor to Bell.

“With the last two appointments, we moved quite quickly,” the Steelmen chairman said.

“Steve has done this before, he knows the club inside and out and the one thing he will give us is a bit of stability and that is much-needed at the moment.

“And with him doing that, it means that we can have a look at what is out there, knowing the club is stable and pushing on.

“I do believe we should be doing a lot better than we have done so far this season.

“We will look at the long-term situation but in the short-term, Steve has stepped in and won three games in a row and has secured the club’s first win in an FA competition for four seasons.

“He is flying high and there’s no doubt that he has the future of this club in his hands when it comes to the academy.

“The infrastructure that he has put in place means he is able to do this for us at the moment and that is a testament to the work he has done since he came here nine months ago.

“If it was looking like it would be difficult for him then we would have moved a lot quicker but while he is coping with it, it gives us time.

“But Steve will be key in the search for a new manager, he must have a big say in it.

“And, whoever it is who comes in, should be happy to have someone like him there for them.”

As far as the dismissal of Bell was concerned, Noble insisted it was simply a case of the results not coming.

Bell was appointed in the summer but he paid the price for a poor start, which saw Corby struggling in the lower reaches of the Evo-Stik League South while they were knocked out of the FA Cup in the preliminary round.

“It was quite simple from our point of view,” Noble added.

“We have had two relegations in the two previous seasons and we came into this one needing some good results.

“David is a great lad but the results didn’t go for him. We felt we made a good appointment when we made him the manager and it just didn’t work out.

“But I am sure that somewhere down the line, he will turn out to be a good manager somewhere.

“After back-to-back relegations, we needed results and they didn’t come.”